Referendum Tension Dominates Final Turners Mascot Forum

Discussion at Thursday’s educational mascot forum became heated as School Committee members responded to concerns and accusations that they had already decided how to vote concerning the mascot issue. Members of the public were also upset that the board is not holding a referendum.

The event was the final scheduled educational forum on the mascot issue, and covered the perspective of alumni who want to keep the mascot speaking. Ronald LaRoche who graduated in 1947 and Jeff Singleton, who is not an alumni of the school, both spoke.

LaRoche discussed the tradition of the school and the mascot while Singleton said he didn’t like the rhetoric of the side who does not want to keep the mascot, noting specifically that he felt the comparisons to other race-based issues, like the Holocaust or slavery in America, are not appropriate for the debate.